From one rape survivor to another: Stay strong amid Missy Woods scandal (Opinion)

Dear fellow survivors,

With great sadness yet determined resolve, I pen this letter to you.

Firstly, I need you to know that you are not alone. I see you. I hear you. I believe you. We are in this together, and I am fighting for you.

I know what it feels like to have your entire life spiral out of your reach, and you can only be a spectator to the show. I know what it feels like to blame yourself and question what you could have possibly done to warrant what you endured. I know how it feels to lose sleep, and jump out of your skin every time the phone rings, or there is a new knock at the door. I know what it feels like to be minimized, invalidated, gaslighted, and scapegoated. Most importantly, however, I know what it is to survive.

On July 5, 2011, I survived a sexual assault near Gainesville, Florida. Due to the level of violence I endured, no one in Alachua County questioned whether or not I had been assaulted. In the end, the prosecutor on the case decided I wasn’t worth the money it would cost to prosecute the one and only suspect, Michael Alan Frye, because he had already been charged with rape in the adjacent Marion County. Frye was convicted of two of his suspected rapes and is serving life in prison.

But I’ve spent 14 years since that day trying to calculate the cost of a human soul. A part of me died that day, and there is no amount of money on Earth that can bring her back.

Florida failed me, just as Colorado has failed to process DNA collected from rape survivors in a timely way.

The backlog includes more than 1,700 rape kits at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation but that isn’t the whole story. There are kits stuck at municipal labs and local labs that serve the major metro areas like Colorado Springs. None of the backlog funding CBI has received thus far will reach municipal labs. Survivors “unlucky” enough to have a kit sent to a municipal lab or to be caught in the unfunded portion of CBI’s backlog have no relief coming.

Then there are the kits impacted by the Missy Woods scandal. Woods admitted to deleting positive male DNA results to close cases as fast as possible. This means every kit she worked on over 27 years, and as recently as 2023 needs to be reviewed and many of them retested.

As of today, CBI has no plan in place for these kits, but the Denver Police Department recently requested a review of 422 sexual assault cases Woods worked on. Based on this number, we can estimate the total number of impacted kits from across the state to be in the hundreds.

The backlog at CBI is still only partially funded. They received $2 million in February, which only covers 1,000 kits and they have no plan for funding kits at municipal labs or those needing to be reconsidered.

Legislators proposed a plan to fully address the backlog in March, but it was blocked by opposition from the governor’s office and CBI.

The deepest parts of my heart understand what pain and trauma this has caused each and every one of you. I empathize greatly with the toll this has taken on those who love you, and that you love. The depths of despair can only go so far, and I am here to provide a lifeline: hope, inspiration, and potential paths toward healing.

I have partnered with another survivor to take up a torch, and blaze a path forward. We have started a fundraiser on gofundme.com to assist our state agencies with clearing this backlog in a timeframe that’s respectful, dignified, and fair. You are the priority. You matter, and we are here to help. Colorado has prioritized politics over people, and the people are no longer standing for it.

I implore you to contact your local law enforcement agencies and ask questions about your kits. I encourage you to seek support resources and pursue civil justice in any and every arena available to you. I suggest contacting your local representatives and explaining the human cost of this failure. We are a community shrouded in strength, and there is truly safety in numbers. It is time to demand answers instead of asking for them. I am here to help you find your voice, and if that strength hasn’t come to you yet, I will be your voice.

This failure is not your fault. Your experiences are not your fault, and my hope with this letter is that you take some comfort, no matter how small, in knowing your stories will not be forgotten. In the same way it takes a village to raise a child, it takes the same community to support survivors. I will rally every community I can behind you. I will march in the streets, and scream until my voice is gone, and the work is done. I will fight with every fiber of my being until your justice becomes a priority.

I see you. I hear you. I believe you, and I will forever stand with you.

Angelique Perrin was born in Grand Junction and currently resides in Denver. She started an account on gofundme.com to raise money to help pay for the backlog and retesting of rape kits in Colorado.

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